Machael David Named Senior CLASS Candidate

Machael David (Photo by Tony Mastres)

Sep 18, 2012

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Senior midfielder Machael David has been selected as one of 30 NCAA men's soccer candidates for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.

An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2012 NCAA Men's College Cup championships the weekend of Dec. 7-9 in Hoover, Alabama.

The 30 men's soccer candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.

David is a standout in each of those categories. Originally hailing from Nigeria, he came to the United States in his teens in search of the American dream. Since coming to UCSB, he has excelled on the soccer field and in the classroom, twice garnering All-Big West distinction and also earning three consecutive Golden Eagle Awards for maintaining the best GPA on his team.

David is the fourth UCSB men's soccer player to become a candidate for this award, following in the footsteps of Chris Pontius (2008), Sam Hayden (2010) and Michael Boxall (2010).

To view the complete list of nominees for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award, click here.

David, and the rest of the No. 3 Gauchos, will be back in action this weekend when they host No. 12 UCLA in a FOX Soccer Channel televised match at 6 p.m. at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium. A record crowd is expected, so fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets early by visiting the Ticket Office in the Intercollegiate Athletics Building on campus, calling (805) 893-UCSB or by clicking here.